Fully-Transseptal Apical Pad with Pulley for Tensioning

ABSTRACT

An apical pad for securing a prosthetic heart valve within a native valve annulus. The apical pad includes a first collar, a second collar and plurality of struts extending between the first collar and the second collar. The plurality of struts has a delivery condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a first cross-section and a deployed condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section. The apical pad may be coupled to a tether extending from a prosthetic heart valve and may transition from the delivery condition to the deployed condition by tensioning the tether.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63/067,538 filed on Aug. 19, 2020 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valves, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for stabilizing a collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valve within a native annulus of a patient.

Prosthetic heart valves that are collapsible to a relatively small circumferential size can be delivered into a patient less invasively than valves that are not collapsible. For example, a collapsible and expandable valve may be delivered into a patient via a tube-like delivery apparatus such as a catheter, a trocar, a laparoscopic instrument, or the like. This collapsibility can avoid the need for a more invasive procedure such as full open-chest, open-heart surgery.

Collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valves typically take the form of a valve structure mounted on a stent. There are two types of stents on which the valve structures are ordinarily mounted: a self-expanding stent and a balloon-expandable stent. To place such valves into a delivery apparatus and ultimately into a patient, the valve must first be collapsed to reduce its circumferential size.

When a collapsed prosthetic valve has reached the desired implant site in the patient (e.g., at or near the native annulus of the patient's heart valve that is to be repaired by the prosthetic valve), the prosthetic valve can be deployed or released from the delivery apparatus and expanded to its full operating size. For balloon-expandable valves, this generally involves releasing the entire valve, assuring its proper location, and then expanding a balloon positioned within the valve stent. For self-expanding valves, on the other hand, the stent automatically expands as the stent is withdrawn from the delivery apparatus.

The clinical success of collapsible and expandable heart valves is dependent, in part, on the anchoring of the valve within the native annulus. Self-expanding valves typically rely on the radial force exerted by expanding the stent against the native annulus to anchor the prosthetic heart valve. However, if the radial force is too high, the heart tissue may be damaged. If, instead, the radial force is too low, the heart valve may move from its deployed position and/or migrate from the native annulus, for example, into the left ventricle.

Movement of the prosthetic heart valve may result in the leakage of blood between the prosthetic heart valve and the native valve annulus. This phenomena is commonly referred to as paravalvular leakage. In mitral valves, paravalvular leakage enables blood to flow from the left ventricle back into the left atrium during systole, resulting in reduced cardiac efficiency and strain on the heart muscle.

Anchoring prosthetic heart valves within the native valve annulus of a patient, especially within the native mitral valve annulus, can be difficult. For example, prosthetic mitral valves often require a low profile so as not to interfere with atrial function, and the low profile complicates securely anchoring the prosthetic heart valve in place. Moreover, the native mitral valve annulus has reduced calcification or plaque compared to the native aortic valve annulus, for example, which can make for a less stable surface to anchor the prosthetic heart valve. For this reason, collapsible and expandable prosthetic mitral valves often include additional anchoring features such as a tether. The tether is commonly secured to an apical pad that anchors the prosthetic heart valve in position within the native annulus of the patient.

Despite the improvements that have been made to anchoring collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valves, shortcomings remain. For example, the apical pad is typically inserted through an incision made between the ribs of the patient and secured to an external surface at the apex of the heart. Conventional apical pads therefore require that the incision be of a sufficient size to allow the apical pad to be inserted through the incision before the tether is tensioned and fastened to the apical pad.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, an expandable apical pad is provided. Among other advantages, the apical pad is designed to be collapsed to a delivery condition, loaded within a catheter along with the prosthetic heart valve and delivered to an implant site within the heart before the apical pad is extended through the ventricular wall of the heart, transitioned to an expanded deployed condition and secured to the apex of the heart. As a result, the apical pad disclosed herein may be delivered and secured to the heart in a less invasive manner than apical pads that are not collapsible.

One embodiment of the apical pad includes a first collar, a second collar and a plurality of struts extending between the first collar and the second collar. The plurality of struts have a delivery condition and a deployed condition. When the plurality of struts are in the delivery condition, the plurality of struts collectively form a first cross-section and when the plurality of struts are in the deployed condition, the plurality of struts collectively form a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section.

A prosthetic heart valve connectable to an apical pad is also provided herein and includes a collapsible and expandable support stent having an inflow end and an outflow end, a valve assembly disposed within the support stent, the valve assembly including a cuff and a plurality of leaflets, and a tether having a first end attached to the support stent and a second end. The apical pad includes a first collar, a second collar and plurality of struts extending between the first collar and the second collar. The plurality of struts have a delivery condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a first cross-section and a deployed condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section. The tether is preferably connected to the apical pad such that tensioning the tether transitions the plurality of struts from the delivery condition to the deployed condition.

A method of implanting a prosthetic heart valve within a native heart valve annulus is provided herein and includes delivering a delivery device to a target site adjacent to a native valve annulus while the delivering device holds an apical pad in a delivery condition and a prosthetic heart valve including a stent, a valve assembly disposed within the stent and a tether attached to the stent and to the apical pad; deploying the prosthetic heart valve from the delivery device within the native valve annulus; creating a passage through the wall of the heart; deploying the apical pad from the delivery device, through the passage to a location outside the heart; transitioning the apical pad from the delivery condition in which the apical pad has a first cross-section to a deployed condition in which the apical pad has a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section; and securing the apical pad against an external surface of the heart.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a highly schematic cutaway view of the human heart, showing two approaches for delivering a prosthetic mitral valve;

FIG. 2 is a highly schematic representation of a native mitral valve and associated cardiac structures;

FIG. 3 is a highly schematic cutaway view of the human heart showing a collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valve according to the prior art anchored within the native mitral annulus by a tether and an apical pad;

FIG. 4A is a side elevational view of the prosthetic mitral valve of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4B is a plan view of the prosthetic mitral valve of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4C is a side elevational view showing an inner stent disposed within and secured to an outer stent of the prosthetic mitral valve of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5A is a side elevational view of the inner stent of FIG. 4C;

FIG. 5B is a side elevational view of the outer stent of FIG. 4C;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are highly schematic partial views of a delivery catheter deploying the prosthetic mitral valve of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7A is a side elevational view of an apical pad having a fabric covering in an elongated delivery condition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7B is a side elevational view of the apical pad of FIG. 7A without the fabric covering;

FIG. 7C is a side elevational view of an apical pad according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the apical pad of FIG. 7C in a deployed condition;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the apical pad of FIG. 7B taken along line A-A;

FIG. 10 is a highly schematic side elevational view showing a delivery catheter loaded with the apical pad of FIG. 7B and secured to the prosthetic mitral valve of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 11 is a highly schematic side elevational view illustrating the tensioning of a tether to transition the apical pad of FIG. 7C to the deployed condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Blood flows through the mitral valve from the left atrium to the left ventricle. As used herein in connection with a prosthetic heart valve, the term “inflow end” refers to the end of the heart valve through which blood enters when the valve is functioning as intended, and the term “outflow end” refers to the end of the heart valve through which blood exits when the valve is functioning as intended. Also as used herein, the terms “substantially,” “generally,” and “about” are intended to mean that slight deviations from absolute are included within the scope of the term so modified.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cutaway representation of a human heart H. The human heart includes two atria and two ventricles: right atrium RA and left atrium LA, and right ventricle RV and left ventricle LV. Heart H further includes aorta A and aortic arch AA. Disposed between the left atrium and the left ventricle is mitral valve MV. The mitral valve, also known as the bicuspid valve or left atrioventricular valve, is a dual-flap that opens as a result of increased pressure in left atrium LA as it fills with blood. As atrial pressure increases above that in left ventricle LV, mitral valve MV opens and blood flows into the left ventricle. Blood flows through heart H in the direction shown by arrows “B”.

A dashed arrow, labeled “TA”, indicates a transapical approach of implanting a prosthetic heart valve, in this case to replace the mitral valve. In the transapical approach, a small incision is made between the ribs of the patient and into the apex of left ventricle LV to deliver the prosthetic heart valve to the target site. A second dashed arrow, labeled “TS”, indicates a transseptal approach of implanting a prosthetic heart valve in which the valve is inserted into the femoral vein and passed through the septum between right atrium RA and left atrium LA. Other approaches for implanting a prosthetic heart valve are also possible and may be used to implant the collapsible prosthetic heart valve described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed schematic representation of native mitral valve MV and its associated structures. As previously noted, mitral valve MV includes two flaps or leaflets, posterior leaflet PL and anterior leaflet AL, disposed between left atrium LA and left ventricle LV. Cord-like tendons, known as chordae-tendineae CT, connect the two leaflets to the medial and lateral papillary muscles P. During atrial systole, blood flows from higher pressure in left atrium LA to lower pressure in left ventricle LV. When left ventricle LV contracts during ventricular systole, the increased blood pressure in the chamber pushes the posterior and anterior leaflets to close, preventing the backflow of blood into left atrium LA. Since the blood pressure in left atrium LA is much lower than that in left ventricle LV, the leaflets attempt to evert to low pressure regions. Chordae tendineae CT prevent the eversion by becoming tense, thus pulling on the leaflets and holding them in the closed position.

FIG. 3 illustrates a known collapsible and expandable prosthetic heart valve 10 secured within the native mitral valve annulus of a patient. For balloon-expandable variants, prosthetic heart valve 10 may be expandable, but not collapsible, or not readily collapsible, once expanded. When used to replace native mitral valve MV, prosthetic valve 10 may have a low profile so as not to interfere with the heart's electrical conduction system pathways or the atrial function.

With continued reference to FIG. 3 and further reference to FIGS. 4A-4C, prosthetic heart valve 10 includes an inner stent 12 securing a valve assembly 14, an outer stent 16 secured to and disposed around the inner stent and a tether 18 configured to be secured to an apical pad 20. Both the inner stent 12 and the outer stent 16 may be formed from biocompatible materials that are capable of self-expansion, for example, shape-memory alloys such as nitinol. Alternatively, inner stent 12 or outer stent 16 may be balloon expandable or expandable by another force exerted radially outward on the stent. When expanded, outer stent 16 may exert an outwardly directed radial force against the native valve annulus that assists in anchoring inner stent 12 and valve assembly 14 within the native annulus.

Referring to FIG. 5A, inner stent 12 extends along a longitudinal axis between an inflow end 22 and an outflow end 24. In one example, inner stent 12 is formed by laser cutting a predetermined pattern into a metallic tube, such as a self-expanding tube formed of a shape-memory alloy such as nitinol, to form four portions: cusps 26, a body portion 28, a strut portion 30 and a tether clamp 32 that clamps and secures tether 18 (shown in FIG. 3).

Strut portion 30 may include, for example, six struts that extend radially inward from body portion 28 to tether clamp 32. When inner stent 12 is expanded, strut portion 30 forms a radial transition between body portion 28 and tether clamp 32 that facilitates crimping of the inner stent when tether 18 is retracted within a delivery device. Body portion 28 may also include six longitudinal posts 34 having a plurality of bores or eyelets 36 for securing valve assembly 14 to the inner stent 12 by one or more sutures. As shown in FIG. 5A, three cusps 26 are positioned at the inflow end 22 of inner stent 12. Each of cusps 26 is circumferentially disposed between a pair of adjacent longitudinal posts 34.

Outer stent 16, shown in FIG. 5B, extends along the longitudinal axis between an atrial end 38 and a ventricular end 40. Outer stent 16 may include a plurality of struts 42 that form cells 44 extending about the outer stent in one or more annular rows. In one example, outer stent 16 is formed by laser cutting a predetermined pattern into a metallic tube, such as a self-expanding nitinol tube. Cells 44 may be substantially the same size around the perimeter of stent 16 and along the length of the stent. Alternatively, cells 44 near the atrial end 38 of outer stent 16 may be larger than the cells near the ventricular end 40. When outer stent 16 is expanded, the struts 42 forming a cell 44 in the annular row of cells adjacent the atrial end 38 of the outer stent may bend about the midsection of the cell (e.g., in a direction generally orthogonal to the longitudinal axis) such that the upper apex of the cell extends radially outward relative to the midsection of the cell and forms an atrial flange. When prosthetic valve 10 is disposed within a native mitral valve MV, the flange is designed to protrude into the left atrium LA and engage an upper surface of the native mitral valve annulus to form a seal and prevent blood from flowing between the prosthetic valve and the native annulus.

A plurality of attachment features 46 may lie at the intersections of the struts 42 that form the cells 44 at the ventricular end 40 of outer stent 16. Attachment features 46 may include an eyelet that facilitates the suturing of outer stent 16 to the longitudinal posts 34 of inner stent 12 thereby securing the inner and outer stents together as shown in FIG. 4C. In one example, each attachment feature 46 may be sutured to a single eyelet 36 of longitudinal post 34, proximate to the outflow end 24 of inner stent 12 such that outer stent 16 may evert relative to and about the inner stent as is described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

Referring back to FIGS. 4A and 4B, valve assembly 14 may be secured to inner stent 12 by suturing the valve assembly to longitudinal posts 34. Valve assembly 14 includes a cuff 48 and a plurality of leaflets 50 that open and close collectively to function as a one-way valve. The eyelets 36 of longitudinal posts 34 facilitate the suturing of the leaflet commissure to the body portion 28 of inner stent 12. Cuff 48 and leaflets 50 may be wholly or partly formed of any suitable biological material, such as bovine or porcine pericardium, or biocompatible polymer, such as polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE), urethanes and the like.

An inner skirt 52 may be disposed on a luminal surface of outer stent 16. Inner skirt 52 may also be formed of any suitable biological material, such as bovine or porcine pericardium, or biocompatible polymer, such as PTFE, urethanes or similar materials. An outer skirt 54 may be disposed about an abluminal surface of outer stent 16. Outer skirt 54 may be formed of a polyester fabric that promotes tissue ingrowth.

Prosthetic heart valve 10 may be used to repair a malfunctioning native heart valve, such as a native mitral valve, or a previously implanted and malfunctioning prosthetic heart valve. In embodiments in which outer stent 16 is designed to evert, prosthetic heart valve 10 may be collapsed and loaded within a delivery device 56 such that the atrial end 38 of outer stent 16 faces a leading end 58 of the delivery device and the inflow end 22 of inner stent 12 faces a trailing end (not shown) of the delivery device as shown in FIG. 6A. Delivery device 56 may then be percutaneously introduced into the patient and delivered to a desired implant site at or near the native mitral annulus.

Once delivery device 56 has reached the target site, a physician may unsheathe prosthetic heart valve 10 to first allow the outer stent 16 to expand from the collapsed condition and evert about inner stent 12 as the outer stent expands and engages the native valve annulus. Further unsheathing of prosthetic heart valve 10 will allow the inner stent 12 to expand from the collapsed condition to the expanded condition within the anchored outer stent 16 and allow the leaflets 50 to act as a one-way valve. The physician may then make an incision between the ribs of the patient and into the apex of left ventricle LV. After the incision has been made, tether 18 may be pulled through the incision so that the tether extends out from the left ventricle LV of the heart. Apical pad 20 may then be inserted through the incision and placed against an external surface of the apex before the tether is tensioned and secured to the apical pad as shown in FIG. 3. It will be appreciated that the incision must be of sufficient size to allow apical pad 20 to be inserted through the incision and fastened to the heart to anchor prosthetic valve 10 within the native valve annulus. An apical pad that can be secured to the heart through smaller incisions to reduce the invasiveness of the valve repair procedure is desired.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a collapsible and expandable apical pad 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Apical pad 100 is radially collapsible to a delivery condition in which the apical pad can be loaded within a delivery device and percutaneously delivered to the heart of a patient and subsequently expanded to a deployed condition in which the apical pad may be fastened to the apex of the heart. The collapsibility of apical pad 100 allows it to be delivered into the body of a patient in a less invasive manner than conventional apical pad 20 (described above with reference to FIG. 3). Although apical pad 100 is described herein as a replacement for apical pad 20, it will be appreciated that apical pad 100 may be attached to the tether of any prosthetic heart valve and used in the repair of the native mitral valve of a patient or another cardiac valve such as the aortic valve.

Apical pad 100 includes a first collar 102, a second collar 104 and a plurality of struts 106. In one embodiment, apical pad 100 is formed by laser cutting a predetermined pattern into a metallic tube formed of biocompatible materials capable of self-expansion, for example, shape-memory alloys such as nitinol. The mechanical properties of the shape-memory alloys provide struts 106 the ability to compress and expand, thus, transitioning apical pad 100 between an elongated condition (FIGS. 7B) (e.g., a delivery condition) and a radially expanded condition (FIG. 8) (e.g., a deployed condition). The struts 106 of apical pad 100 may be heat-set, or otherwise preset, to the radially expanded condition. In this regard, once apical pad 100 is released from a delivery device, such as delivery device 56, struts 106 will expand to their preset configuration and cause the apical pad to transition to its deployed configuration.

Each one of the plurality of struts 106 extends generally in the longitudinal direction of the apical pad from a first end 108 attached to first collar 102 to a second end 110 attached to the second collar 104 and couples the first and second collars to one another. When struts 106 are longitudinally compressed and radially expanded, first collar 102 moves relatively towards second collar 104. On the other hand, when struts 106 are elongated in the longitudinal direction of the apical pad, first collar 102 moves away from second collar 104.

The first ends 108 of struts 106 are attached to first collar 102 at first attachment locations which may be annularly disposed about the first collar, while the second ends 110 of the struts are attached to second collar 104 at second attachment locations which may be annularly disposed about the second collar. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7C, each second attachment location is angularly offset from a respective first attachment location (e.g., the second attachment location of a strut is not aligned with the first attachment location of that strut in the longitudinal direction the apical pad). In other words, each strut 106 partially circumscribes the longitudinal axis of apical pad 100 between the first and second attachment locations. Preferably, each second attachment location is offset from the first attachment location in a circumferential direction about the longitudinal axis by an angle that may be determined by dividing 360 degrees by the number of struts 106. For example, because two struts 106 are illustrated in FIG. 7C, each second attachment location is illustrated as being offset 180 degrees from a respective first attachment location. In this manner, struts 106 collectively circumscribe the longitudinal axis of the apical pad 100 as the struts are longitudinally compressed and expanded outwardly in a radial direction of the apical pad. The compressed struts form an ellipse and expand padding 122 (FIGS. 7A and 11) in a radial direction. Padding 122 may be sewn to or otherwise coupled to struts 106 and may be formed from a polyester fabric or another material that facilitates the clotting of blood and the ingrowth of tissue. It is believed that the ellipse creates a superior seal because the ellipse completely circumscribes the longitudinal axis of apical pad 100 and, in turn, is configured to completely circumscribe a puncture extending through the wall of the heart to prevent the leakage of blood.

In a preferred embodiment, apical pad 100 has a cross-section that is approximately equal to or less than 24 French, and preferably equal to or less than 18 French, when struts 106 are in the longitudinally elongated delivery condition. In this manner, apical pad 100 can be loaded within a delivery device sized for transseptal delivery through the femoral artery. When struts 106 are longitudinally compressed and expanded in the radial direction, apical pad 100 may have a cross-section that is greater than 24 French.

With reference to FIGS. 7B, 7C and 9, first collar 102 may include a beam 112 extending generally orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of apical pad 100 and across the cross-section of the first collar. In one embodiment, beam 112 may be laser welded to first collar 102 after manufacturing the beam separately from first collar 102, second collar 104, and struts 106. A pulley 114 configured to receive tether 18, or the tether of an alternate embodiment of a prosthetic heart valve, may be rotatably secured to beam 112 such that apical pad 100 transitions from the delivery condition to the deployed condition when the tether is tensioned.

Second collar 104 may optionally include one or more locking tabs 116 extending away from a surface of the second collar that faces first collar 102. Each locking tab 116 is longitudinally aligned with a respective recess 118 defined in a surface of first collar 102 that faces second collar 104 such the locking tabs are configured to enter a respective recess and lock the first collar to the second collar when apical pad 100 is tensioned. In one embodiment, locking tabs 116 are sized to friction fit within recesses 118 and prevent first collar 102 from separating from second collar 104 after apical pad 100 has been tensioned to position the locking tabs within the recesses. Locking tabs 116 may alternatively include a rib-like shelf (not shown) to engage a corresponding groove disposed within recess 118 to lock first collar 102 and second collar 104 together. When second collar 104 includes a plurality of locking tabs 116, the locking tabs may be annularly spaced about the second collar such that one or more locking tabs are disposed between adjacent second attachment locations for the ends 110 of struts 106. It will be appreciated that locking tabs 116 may alternatively protrude from first collar 102 while recesses 118 may be formed in second collar 104. In some embodiments, alternative, or additional, locking features may be utilized to secure first collar 102 to second collar 104.

First collar 102 may further include a locking pin assembly 120 to secure tether 18. Locking pin assembly 120 may include a locking pin moveable through a pin channel defined in first locking collar 102 and extending orthogonally to the longitudinal axis of apical pad 100 such that the pin is configured to pierce or otherwise engage tensioned tether 18 against pulley 114 and prevent the tension from being released.

Use of apical pad 100 to anchor prosthetic heart valve 10 within a native mitral valve annulus will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7A-11. With a first end of tether 18 secured to the clamp 32 of inner stent 12, a physician may take the free end of the tether and wrap it around the pulley 114 of apical pad 100 to couple prosthetic heart valve 10 and the apical pad to one another. The coupled prosthetic heart valve 10 and elongated apical pad 100 may then be loaded into delivery device 56. More particularly, outer stent 16 may be everted and prosthetic heart valve 10 may be collapsed and loaded within delivery device 56 such that the atrial end 38 of outer stent 16 faces the leading end 58 of the delivery device and the inflow end 22 of inner stent 12 faces the trailing end of the delivery device. Apical pad 100 may then be transitioned to the delivery condition and loaded into the leading end 58 of delivery device 56 such that the apical pad is disposed between prosthetic heart valve 10 and the leading end of the delivery device with the free end of the tether extending back towards the trailing end of the delivery device. In other words, as is shown in FIG. 10, after prosthetic heart valve 10 and apical pad 100 have been loaded within delivery device 56, a first portion 18 a of the tether extends between the tether clamp 32 of inner stent 12 and the pulley 114 of the apical pad, and a second portion 18 b of the tether extends from the pulley and out from the trailing end of the delivery device such that it can be manipulated by a physician.

Delivery device 56 may be percutaneously introduced into the patient, for example, via the femoral vein and delivered into the left ventricle LV using a transseptal approach. With the leading end 58 of delivery device 56 positioned within the left ventricle LV, the physician may use the leading end of the delivery device (or a separate cutting tool) to puncture through the myocardium at the apex of the heart. A plunger (not shown) may then be used to push apical pad 100 out from the leading end 58 of delivery device 56 and through the wall of the heart. The struts 106 of apical pad 100 may then naturally expand in the radial direction to their preset condition and cause the apical pad to the deployed condition as shown in FIG. 8.

The leading end 58 of delivery device 56 may then be retracted to a location within the left atrium and adjacent to the native mitral valve annulus. Once the leading end 58 of delivery device 56 has been properly positioned, the physician may unsheathe prosthetic heart valve 10 allowing outer stent 16 to evert about inner stent 12 within left atrium LA. The physician may then move the leading end 58 of delivery device 56 to a location within the native mitral valve annulus until the outer stent is properly positioned within the native valve annulus and the flange of the outer stent is engaged with an atrial side of the native annulus. Further unsheathing of prosthetic heart valve 10 will cause the inner stent 12 to expand from the collapsed condition to the expanded condition, within anchored outer stent 16, and allow the leaflets 50 to act as a one-way valve. After the physician has confirmed that prosthetic heart valve 10 has been properly positioned, and leaflets 50 are properly coapting, the physician may tension tether 18. As shown in FIG. 11, pulling the free end of tether 18 towards the trailing end of delivery device 56 (in the direction of the arrow labeled P) causes struts 106 to further compress in the longitudinal direction, and expand outwardly in the radial direction, such that the struts collectively form an ellipse about the longitudinal axis of apical pad 100. As struts 106 compress in the longitudinal direction of apical pad 100, first collar 102 moves relatively towards second collar 104 and, in embodiments in which the apical pad includes locking features, may allow locking tabs 116 to be positioned within recesses 118 to lock the first and second collars to one another and prevent the first and second collars from subsequently being separated.

The physician may then actuate locking pin assembly 120 to move the locking pin and to clamp the tether against the pulley 114, preventing the tether from releasing the tension. The physician may then cut the second portion 18 b of the tether before removing the second portion and delivery device 56 from the patient. It will be appreciated that because apical pad 100 is expanded by tensioning tether 18, no incision between the patient's ribs need to be made. As a result, apical pad 100 allows for a less invasive valve repair procedure than apical pad 20.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, while the foregoing disclosure describes the struts forming an ellipse in the deployed condition, that is not necessarily the case. The struts in the deployed condition can form any number of shapes depending on the total number of struts in the apical pad and the angle between the first and second ends of the struts. 

1. An apical pad, comprising: a first collar; a second collar; and a plurality of struts extending between the first collar and the second collar, the plurality of struts having a delivery condition and a deployed condition, wherein when the plurality of struts are in the delivery condition, the plurality of struts collectively form a first cross-section and when the plurality of struts are in the deployed condition, the plurality of struts collectively form a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section.
 2. The apical pad of claim 1, further comprising a pulley rotatably coupled to the first collar.
 3. The apical pad of claim 2, wherein the apical pad has a longitudinal axis extending from the first collar to the second collar, and the first collar further comprises a beam extending substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis, the pulley being rotatable about the beam.
 4. The apical pad of claim 1, further comprising a locking tab projecting from at least one of the first collar or the second collar.
 5. The apical pad of claim 4, wherein the other one of the first collar or the second collar defines a recess configured to receive the locking tab and to lock the first collar to the second collar.
 6. The apical pad of claim 1, wherein the struts are formed of nitinol.
 7. The apical pad of claim 1, wherein the first cross-section is equal to or less than approximately 24 French and the second cross-section is greater than 24 French.
 8. A prosthetic heart valve, comprising: a collapsible and expandable support stent having an inflow end and an outflow end; a valve assembly disposed within the support stent, the valve assembly including a cuff and a plurality of leaflets; a tether having a first end attached to the support stent and a second end and an apical pad including a first collar, a second collar and plurality of struts extending between the first collar and the second collar, the plurality of struts having a delivery condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a first cross-section and a deployed condition in which the plurality of struts collectively form a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section, wherein the tether is connected to the apical pad such that tensioning the tether transitions the plurality of struts from the delivery condition to the deployed condition.
 9. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8, further comprising a pulley rotatably attached to the first collar.
 10. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of struts includes a first end attached to the first collar at a first attachment location and a second end attached to the second collar at a second attachment location, and the first attachment location is offset from the second attachment location by an angle in a circumferential direction about the longitudinal axis.
 11. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 10, wherein the plurality of struts includes a fixed number of struts and the angle is equal to 360 degrees divided by the fixed number of struts.
 12. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of locking tabs annularly spaced about one of the first collar or the second collar.
 13. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 12, wherein a plurality of recesses are formed in the other one of the first collar or the second collar, each of the plurality of recesses being configured to receive a respective one of the locking tabs and to lock the first collar to the second collar.
 14. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8, wherein the apical pad further comprises a fabric material that promotes tissue ingrowth.
 15. The prosthetic heart valve of claim 8, further comprising an expandable and collapsible anchoring stent having an atrial end and a ventricular end, the anchoring stent being coupled to and at least partially surrounding the support stent when the prosthetic heart valve is implanted within a native annulus of a patient.
 16. A method of implanting a prosthetic heart valve in a patient, the method comprising: delivering a delivery device to a target site adjacent to a native valve annulus, the delivering device holding an apical pad in a delivery condition and a prosthetic heart valve including a stent, a valve assembly disposed within the stent and a tether attached to the stent and to the apical pad; deploying the prosthetic heart valve from the delivery device within the native valve annulus; creating a passage through the wall of the heart; deploying the apical pad from the delivery device, through the passage to a location outside the heart; transitioning the apical pad from the delivery condition in which the apical pad has a first cross-section to a deployed condition in which the apical pad has a second cross-section greater than the first cross-section; and securing the apical pad against an external surface of the heart.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein when the apical pad is in the delivery condition, the apical pad has a cross-section approximately equal to or less than 24 French and when the apical pad is in the deployed condition, the apical pad has a cross-section greater than 24 French.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the apical pad comprises a pulley and the transitioning step further comprises: tensioning the tether about the pulley to transition the apical pad from the delivery condition to the deployed condition.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the delivering step comprises percutaneously delivering the prosthetic heart valve to the native mitral annulus using a transseptal approach.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the creating step comprises extending a cutting tool from inside the heart to outside the heart to create the passage. 